An Interesting Real Life Event

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Suspect in Mall Stabbing To Be Evaluated
Three women hospitalized after attack.
By Ken Millstone/The Almanac
May 31, 2005
A Greenbelt woman ...

An Interesting Real Life Event

And...A Creative Weapon!

Suspect in Mall Stabbing To Be Evaluated
Three women hospitalized after attack.
By Ken Millstone/The Almanac
May 31, 2005

A Greenbelt woman was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation and is being held without bond after being charged with stabbing two women and attempting to stab a third woman at Westfield Shoppingtown Montgomery, the shopping center formerly known as Montgomery Mall.
Antoinette C. Starks, 38, is charged with three counts of attempted second-degree murder, three counts of first-degree assault, three counts of reckless endangerment, and seven other charges after being arrested May 25.
At approximately 6:30 p.m. Montgomery County’s emergency call center began receiving panicked calls from shoppers at Nordstom saying that a woman was stabbing people at random, according to court documents.
According to the court documents and police, Starks stabbed a woman near the customer service counter on the third floor of the store, then got on the escalator to the second floor, stabbed a second woman, and began to chase a third woman, who escaped without injury.
Adam Karcher, an off-duty FBI agent based in Philadelphia, noticed a large crowd staring at the escalator and observed part of the second stabbing. He drew his service weapon, ordered Starks to drop her weapon and took her into custody without further incident.According to court documents, Starks had dropped two knives on the third floor and used two large butcher knives taped together at the handle to create a double-bladed weapon.
The stabbing victims are identified as Sarah Paseltiner, 25, of Bethesda and Jacqueline Greismann, 48, of Potomac. Greismann is an upper school librarian at the Bullis School in Potomac. Both were transported to local hospitals with serious injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
Counselors were on hand at Bullis following the incident. Officials at the school could not be reached for comment.
The third victim, Sheida Shahndeh, 21, was chased by Starks and was transported to Suburban Hospital after suffering an asthma attack brought on by the event.
Derek Baliles, a Montgomery County Police spokesman said the crimes appear to have been random.
“Pretty much everyone is very consistent with the fact that it was unprovoked and a surprise. It just began all of a sudden and they don’t know why it began,” Baliles said. “The victims tell us they do not know [Starks].”
Still, the fact that Starks was carrying knives, including the two butcher knives taped together to make a double-edged weapon, suggest that the crime was in some ways planned, police said.
"That would show some preplanning or at least some preparation prior to this," said Baliles. "Something is still not known at this time."
In 2003, Starks was convicted of seven counts of malicious destruction of property for spray-painting the phrase “David is a Bitch” on buildings and vehicles in Rockville and sentenced to two and a half years in prison.
“It was not right for the complaintants to say I sprayed their property when none of them have seen me on their property. Just going by what you think or believe or wish is not proff [sic],” Starks said in a handwritten note appealing the sentence.
In 1999, Starks was charged with theft under $300 for stealing shoes from TJ Maxx in Rockville, but the state decided not to prosecute the charges.
Starks had been released from the prison just days before the May 25 stabbing.
Following the psychiatric evaluation, she will have a bail review June 3 and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing June 24.

Did you notice what stopped the attack??? A person with a firearm!!! Yes he is an FBI guy but it goes to show a firearm wioll stop most bad guys in their tracks. Geez, that had to be pretty scarey for the people. Most of us are just going on our merry way and don't thionk of the uneventfull until all hell breaks loose.

She most certainly was a raving head case - and who is to say even in the ''best'' of neighborhoods, that any of us could not encounter something similar. I am not a Mall fan but when in one am extra alert - some wierd folks turn up, usually because nothing better to do.

The Malls

Yep, sometimes they are like a magnet for the wackos.
Also from the nutty person "point of view" they know that the mall is a spot that there will always be a lot of "Condition White" people all milling around in one place.

"Yep - firearm (undischarged) yet again is the situation controller" P95Carry a very good point.

QKShooter-how you doin?? I plead guilty to wandering around and not paying attention at times. A few months back I came out of Home Depot early morning and see these these two young girls talking and split up walking between cars. They were dressed like going to a party, short black dresses. Thought it was rather strange for that time of day . Another time a guy came up to the wife and I how I let him get that close I will never know but it happens. He wanted gas money, we get many of these people that float up and down the down the coast walking up to you asking for money.

The one thing I have to point out (unfortunatly) is that this occured in the wonderful State of Maryland. If the guy hadn't been LE the woman might still be slicing and dicing. If a civilian had pulled a weapon and stopped her, he/she would have beaten her to the jail cell!

Not that I have anything against the State where I currently reside...
(Scarcasm provided for free! )

This stuff slips into everyday language. Even I have dropped my guard and referred to bizarre behavior as 'that of a whack job.'

Among friends (like Euc and Betty) we joke about being "off your meds." But that's me and a close association, not a general concept of the entire demographic. It's part of our self-effacing humor. But delve into that parallel concept for a minute. How would you expect me to react if castigated by an outsider?

Now, I'm not a psychiatrist, although I play one on the imaginery TV I have in my office, but my guess is that this woman will be evaluated by medical professionals. There will be a trial, and any pertinent info will be part of her defense--as it should be.